Pro-Israel rally outside Downing Street calls to ‘Sanction Terror Not Judea and Samaria’

Reform UK Deputy Leader Richard Tice also attended and addressed the crowd, sharply criticizing the Labour government over the policy shifts.

Demonstrators gathered outside Downing Street on Wednesday evening to protest the British government's recent policy measures regarding Israel.

The rally, titled "Sanction Terror Not Judea and Samaria," was organized by Stop the Hate UK, a Jewish-led direct action campaign group, to protest the UK government's announcement of sanctions targeting Israeli settlements. 

The rally drew activists who displayed banners and signs reading "Sanction Terror Not Judea and Samaria" and "Israel is an Ally not an Enemy." Participants criticized the government following announcements of restrictions targeting Israeli settlements.

Stop the Hate UK founder and CEO Itai Galmudy addressed the demonstrators, focusing heavily on what he termed the double standards applied to the Jewish state. Galmudy questioned why the British government deploys sweeping regional trade bans and blanket economic measures against Israel while maintaining bilateral trade frameworks and economic agreements with other conflict-ridden countries.

Pointing to nations like Yemen, where large swaths of land are dominated by the Houthis, and southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah exerts immense pressure, Galmudy noted that Britain handles those regions with targeted responses rather than sweeping economic isolation.

"What makes those measures so deeply frustrating is the undeniable double standard. Where is the same sweeping economic approach when it comes to other conflict zones rife with terror?" Galmudy asked the crowd, asserting that this singles out Israel to a standard no other country faces and risks alienating key democratic allies.

Mark Birbeck, founder of the grassroots campaign Our Fight, a group challenging British antisemitism, took to the microphone to warn about the rising prevalence of anti-Israel sentiment, explaining that leaders often search for a moral framework to fill a void and that "the framework that they are reaching out for now is anti-Israel."

Birbeck: Antisemitic ideology 'made its way into parliament'

Birbeck stated that this ideology has "made its way into number ten and it's made its way into parliament," adding that "the technocrats have become dangerous because they are now the instigators and the propagators of the most dangerous idea in British politics now, that Israel is the source of the world's problems, and that to be virtuous and to be good and to be moral, you need to be against Israel."

Birbeck further emphasized the severity of the shift, telling the crowd, "this is a dark, dark time that's coming and we need to rally our forces, we need to find those people who understand the seriousness of what we are facing, because this anti-Israel prejudice, this anti-Israel bigotry is now becoming an ideology."

Comedian Josh Howie also spoke at the demonstration, delivering a sharp critique of the government's motives and policy decisions. He argued that the boycott of goods from Judea and Samaria would "achieve nothing," noting that it fails to bring about peace, threatens thousands of Palestinian jobs, and pushes a two-state solution further away.

Howie contended that the policy served as a political crusade for votes rather than a moral stance, warning attendees, "This is no moral crusade for peace, this a crusade for votes from the far-left and Muslims."

Reform UK Deputy Leader Richard Tice also attended and addressed the crowd, sharply criticizing the Labour government over the policy shifts. Tice highlighted the immediate hostility faced on the streets during the gathering, pointing out that cyclists had just gone past and spat at the demonstrators.

Tice: Labour policy shifts a 'grave mistake'

He argued that the government's actions effectively embolden antisemites and damage key strategic relationships with allies like the US and Israel, describing the measures as a "grave mistake." "I think the foreign secretary is playing purpose to this. He is making a grave mistake that has damaged international relations, that has frankly damaged the respect and trust that everybody in Israel feels about the United Kingdom," Tice said.

Concluding his remarks, Tice said he hoped a general election would take place within the next three years, adding that it would be the moment when the UK prime minister and foreign secretary are punished for their grave and grievous judgments.